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Obsidian with Web Apps
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Posted by DataMill
Feb 21, 2023 at 03:03 PM
I’ve been experimenting with using Obsidian hosting web apps such as Legend, Notion, Walling and Google Calendar etc. One method is to create an Obsidian Canvas and then paste the web address in it. Then you log in with your credentials.
Using a canvas lets you add other blocks and content along with the hosted app, allowing for some interesting brainstorming. Currently I’m playing with both. There’s also a Canvas Mindmap plugin that works with canvases. So far, it seems quite useful.
The other method is to use an Obsidian Plugin called Open Gate, where you enter the website address and set a few options. With Legend, you need to log in with your email address and password. Logging in with Google precipitates errors. With Open Gate, I’ve set up Legend to appear on the left side of the app and others open at the right. Then the center will have a note or document.
The web apps can also be hosted nicely inside DevonThink, which has a good internal browser.
-Mike
Posted by Amontillado
Feb 21, 2023 at 08:56 PM
I have Devonthink’s server edition and tried to paste the DT web address in an Obsidian canvas.
My guess is Obsidian didn’t like my self-signed cert. When I have more time I’ll try setting DT up for http. On first try, I got the login screen but didn’t get into the DT server.
Note that 80 and 443 are blocked in my firewall. I am exposing http on my local network only, not to the Internet at large.
Posted by Paul Korm
Feb 21, 2023 at 09:26 PM
I’ve experimented with web sites displayed on Obsidian canvas. I get the same issue that I get in DEVONthink at times: the logins are not persistent between “sessions”. If I quit and restart Obsidian, or reboot the machine, or sometimes merely wake the machine from sleep, the logins are gone when I go back to that canvas. I assume it’s an issue with caching credentials, obviously, but haven’t bothered to resolve it.
Actually, life is simpler just putting Obsidian and a browser is side-by-side windows on the desktop.
Obsidan canvases are nice, but as a portal they suck, in my humble opinion.
Posted by DataMill
Feb 22, 2023 at 05:11 PM
I agree that using a canvas as a portal isn’t very good. It was more of a proof of concept. What works better is a plugin called Open Gare. This opens a site as a panel on the side of your choice. For general web work, I agree that placing a browser next to Obsidian is the way to go.
Posted by MadaboutDana
Mar 30, 2023 at 08:58 AM
While this isn’t directly relevant to the above conversation, it is relevant to using Obsidian with web pages.
I’ve been experimenting with an Obsidian plugin, Nathan George’s Webpage HTML Export, and have been profoundly impressed. It generates a very nice reproduction of one’s Obsidian note (or even several notes in a folder, if you so wish, although I’ve noticed it’s not very good with lots of notes in a folder) as a web page, but also adds a table of contents and a dark/light switching button. The various headings in the page all fold, just as they do in Obsidian, and the table of contents reflects all headings and subheads (and can also fold). Any tasks in the page can be checked/ticked, just as they can in Obsidian.
It’s perfect for creating and instantly publishing micro-blogs or extended articles!
Even more amusing is using the Read Later plugin to download an interesting webpage, then re-exporting it as an HTML file. Read Later integrates with Pocket and InstaPaper. Which reminds me that I also use the sensational Mac/iOS app History Book to track all web pages I’m reading and save them to ultra-efficient markdown. The markdown pages can later be imported into Obsidian (or the markdown editor of your choice). History Book’s use of space is extraordinarily efficient, which is why I have no hesitation leaving it permanently on in background mode (also on my iPad; it syncs with my Macs).
The range of seriously great, web-interactive markdown apps just keeps getting better and better! I’m just reexamining LogSeq, which appears to have evolved significantly since I last took a look.
Cheers!
Bill